The Marauders: Year One | #Wattys2016

Muggle-Watching

Unable to sit by and watch any longer, Sirius threw down his omnioculars and ran down the stairs, passing Kreacher carrying a tray of hot chocolate to Regulus's room. "Master is running in the house and mistress doesn't like it when young masters run in the house," he croaked as Sirius rushed by.

"Knock off, Kreacher," Sirius shouted as he thundered onward down the stairs.

"What is all of this ridiculous racket?" shrieked Walburga's voice from the library. "Kreacher! What is going on out there?"

"Mistress is angry," Kreacher grumbled, "Kreacher is going to be telling mistress about master Sirius's naughty running."

"Well go on then if you must," Sirius said, and he ran off down the hall as Kreacher shuffled back to the library door. Sirius didn't have time to worry about Walburga's anger at the time, though, for he'd already taken longer than he'd wanted in coming down the stairs, and there was the boy, still locked tight in the grasp of the others, kicking and crying to be let go of. Sirius ran across the street and into the park and right up to the bullies and their prey and shouted, "Let go of him!" at the top of his voice, shoving his palms solidly against the nearest of the bullies.

"Who the hell're you?" asked the biggest bully, the one who had his arm 'round the neck of the boy Sirius had been watching. The boy kicked against the bully, trying to free himself, his eyes widely staring at Sirius, clearly thinking the same question as the bully was.

Sirius felt uncontrollable magic welling up inside him, as though he were a grenade about to go off, and he shouted, "I said let -- go -- of -- him!" And with a great cracking sound, the magic erupted from him and the bully, not knowing what in the world had struck him, let go of the boy, suddenly quite bloody 'round the nose. He clutched his face and hollered loudly.

"What the bloody hell have you done?" wheezed the boy, looking wildly at Sirius as he scrambled away from the bloody-faced bully.

The other two bullies looked at each other, their nerves evaporated, and the three of them ran off, shouting vows over their shoulders, "This ain't over Spencer!"

Sirius bent and helped the boy collect his drawing pencils, or at least what was left to them, and the boy shook out his sketchbook, mud splattering out from the pages. He frowned, "I think they're ruined," he muttered.

"A quick siphoning spell would clean them right off," Sirius said.

"A what?" the boy looked 'round at him, confused.

"A siphoning --" but Sirius didn't get the words out for at that moment, Walburga had stepped out onto the front stoop of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, her face furiously contorted, Kreacher at her side, dancing foot to foot. Walburga's face was practically purple and Sirius could see the anger etched in deep lines across her features, even from way across the street.

"SIRIUS!" she bellowed. Though her voice had been quite ringing to Sirius, the boy, Spencer they'd called him, didn't seem to hear it at all.

"I gotta go," Sirius said. "Let me fix your book for you," he suggested. "I'll give it back tomorrow."

The boy shrugged and handed Sirius the sketch book. "It's rubbish anyway, you can have it."

"I think the drawings are spectacular," Sirius replied.

"SIRIUS!"

"Gotta go." He tucked the sketchbook under his arm and ran, sprinting across the road. He wondered what the boy thought when he crossed the threshold to Number 12 because it was invisible to muggles. Sirius wasn't sure how it would look to Spencer - like he'd simply vanished, perhaps? There was no telling.